Reininger Walla Walla Wine Club Holiday Celebration
Friday night we kicked off our 2010 Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend, and another Wine Club party at Reininger. With our Tasting Room aglow in candles and festive decorations, we began with the Helix 2005 Stillwater Creek Vineyard Sangiovese and 2008 Helix Aspersa, while nibbling on an assortment of Italian-inspired appetizers. Guests barrel-tasted a 2009 Petit Verdot from Stone Tree Vineyard, and perused our weekend-long display of paintings and bronzes from five Northwest artists: Carol Carpenter and Todd Telander of Walla Walla; Leslie LeViner and Tim Norman of Enterprise Oregon; and Malcolm Phinney of Joseph, Oregon.
The highlight of the evening was a vertical tasting and discussion of Reininger Cima – 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 – led by winemaker Chuck Reininger. To accompany the Cima, Graze Catering prepared a light supper of Beef Ragu with Creamy Polenta, as well as a side-dish of hearty roasted winter vegetables. For the Reiningers and Tuckers, it was a wonderful opportunity to meet and greet our Wine Club members in an intimate setting. We hope our Wine Club guests enjoyed our in-depth focus on the making of our Super-Wallan style blend – Cima!
With our 2010 Holiday Barrel Tasting and Autumn Release Wine Club parties a big success, we look forward to hosting more of these small gatherings in 2011. Happy Holidays!
Ann Tucker
Justin Vajgert on Reininger 2006 Syrah
Ash Hollow Vineyard
Justin Talks About Reininger’s 2006 Syrah Ash Hollow Vineyard
Syrah is an old Northern Rhone variety. It’s grown in regions like Cote Rotie, Hermitage and Cornas, [also] Saint Joseph and Crozes-Hermitage for years, hundreds of years, if not thousands. For me, it’s one of my favorite regions… I love Syrah very much. It wears a lot of different hats depending on where it’s grown.
This [Reininger 2006 Syrah Ash Hollow Vineyard] is probably one of my favorite Syrahs… It’s definitely along the earthier side. It’s not a fruit bomb by any means. It’s very restrained. The aromas are smokey, olive tones, cured meats and mushrooms. Its not a typical Washington Syrah which can lead itself to be a little more fruit forward, and that’s what I like about it.
I’m getting a little bit of floral. But definitely, olive is one of the things that stands out, to me, most. It smells like black olives and sometimes charcuterie, or cured meats. It’s funky; the fruit’s there but you really have to dig for it. It has a lot of secondary flavors that really stand out in this wine. It’s got a really nice silky texture. It’s soft; the tannin’s really, really fine. Nice acid, but defiantly full bodied. For somebody who likes a full wine, this is there.
It’s great with lamb but it works with other meats, red or white. If you are going to use chicken or pork you definitely want something with some serious seasoning or flavor to it, because it really needs something significant to stand up to the flavors of the wine.
Vegetarian dishes would work too. Like risotto, mushroom risotto or lamb risotto or risotto in general would be a pretty safe pairing.
